June:

This month, I had the amazing opportunity to go to Deer Isle, Maine, to study at Haystack Mountain School of Craft for two weeks! The jewelry department head at RISD offered me a spot in the leather and metals workshop, and I couldn’t pass it up! The entire campus was set on the coast of the Islands of Maine, almost like a giant treehouse. I stayed in the cabin dorms with 11 other people and a view of the ocean right outside our door! There were about 90 people there, ages 20-75, all with various art backgrounds. I took a class called “Second Skin”. The first week was focused on leather forming, and the second was metalworking to bring our leather pieces to life! We took a field trip to the local dump to scavenge for materials to form leather over, and I was super drawn to the pile of couches and chairs that were thrown out. I climbed the pile, searching for fabric that I could use in my pieces.

Each day, the bell rang for breakfast at 8 am, then we had class from 9-12, lunch at Noon, class again from 1-4, and the dinner bell at 6 pm. Some days, we had artist lectures after class from the Artists teaching courses, the teaching assistants, and artists in residence. The lectures were so fascinating and I learned so many new things. After the lectures, I would explore the trails around campus that lead straight to the ocean. It’s the best way to end the night and a day full of art making!

I also loved talking with everyone from the other classes and hearing about what they were getting up to. Some of the other courses were Mending, Chair-Making (I was so jealous of this workshop), Blacksmithing, Printmaking, and Ceramics.

I worked on a series of brooches during my time. My first series was a squished chair series. I sculpted flattened chairs, formed leather over, sewed into that, then added my dump fabric on the back and turned them into brooches. I loved exploring various methods of treating the leather, brooch backs, and sewing! I will explore this series more when I go back to school. I also worked on a ‘hankie’ holder brooch. I did some research on different handkerchief holders and made a brooch series with small hands holding leather that I formed to look like fabric bunched up. I ended up donating one of my hankie brooches to the end-of-session auction, I traded one with another artist in my class, and then sold my last one! Safe to say I need to make more! I loved being able to take the pressure off of creating something perfect for school and just creating what I wanted to make!

My time at Haystack was so incredible, meeting so many amazing people and learning so many new things. What made this place so special was the intergenerational relationships. I loved being able to sit down at lunch with ladies in their 70s and hear them tell stories of their lives, and then have dinner with my professor and a bunch of other art students my age. We were just all artists, no matter age, hanging out, sharing experiences, and inspiring each other. It’s safe to say I’m hooked on craft schools, and I can’t wait to go to more, hopefully being a teaching assistant!

When I came home from Maine, I started a new job! I am caregiving for a 98-year-old man during the evening. After spending last summer with my grandmother, I have felt drawn to caregiving for people at the end of their lives. It is such a special job to be able to sit with people and provide them support, after all they have done for others during their lives. It’s a hard, but rewarding job. I love listening to his life stories, helping him, and just providing company and someone to talk to.

I also have an internship at an interior design company this summer! Freshman year of high school, I started babysitting for a lady in town, and we just really clicked. Since then, I have kept in touch and we meet up to get coffee, go thrifting, and catch up. A few years ago, she took the leap and started her own company, and this summer she invited me to join her team as an intern! Our main project is for a former gallerist, taking all of her amazing pieces and rethinking and styling them in her home in a way that she loves. We are just in the planning and curating stage, but I’m so excited to get in the house and start bringing it to life!

I have also been trying to soak up as much of the sun as I can. It’s so special that I live in such a beautiful place, so I’m trying to take full advantage of it! I’ve been enjoying swimming competitions with Calvin, sewing and listening to podcasts outside, kayaking, baseball, and time with family.